From: NY Transfer News <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: [CubaNews] No Blank Check from UN, NATO for Bush War
Via NY Transfer News * All the News That Doesn't Fit
Monday September 17 6:00 PM ET (via Yahoo)
No Blank Check for U.S. Action From UN, NATO
By Evelyn Leopold
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - With the United States gearing up for a
`war against terrorism,'' some nations are gingerly pointing out that
Washington does not have a blank check for military action from the
United Nations or NATO.
Pakistan's military government, for one, a key player in the battle
against the perpetrators of the Sept. 11 attacks on New York and
Washington, has referred to U.N. resolutions to express its caution
about military commitments in any operation in neighboring
Afghanistan.
Foreign Minister Abdul Sattar on Saturday suggested a United Nations
resolution may be needed to authorize any military action against
Afghanistan's Taliban rulers. They allow Osama bin Laden, the Saudi
Arabian-born millionaire singled out by the United States as a prime
suspect in the attacks, to remain in the Islamic nation as a
`guest.''
On Sunday, Sattar said his government would comply with all U.N.
Security Council resolutions to combat terrorism. ''Consistent with
Pakistan's policy of support for the decisions of the Security
Council, the government will discharge its responsibilities under
international law,'' he said.
The 15-member U.N. Security Council last Wednesday adopted a
resolution expressing its `readiness to take all necessary steps'' to
respond to the strikes in which hijackers slammed planes into the
World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon near Washington. But
that move was a far cry from authorization to take military action.
Italy's Defense Minister Antonio Martini said in an interview with
the daily Il Messaggero on Sunday the idea that the United States
should seek approval from the United Nations first was `gaining
ground.'' But on Monday, in an interview with Reuters, he
unequivocally said Rome was ready to deploy troops and aircraft, if
requested.
U.N. ENDORSEMENT REQUIRED?
At the United Nations, the United States could justify military
action by relying on Article 51 of the U.N. Charter. That allows `the
inherent right of individual or collective self-defense if an armed
attack occurs against a member of the United Nations until the
Security Council has taken measures necessary to maintain
international peace and security.''
Unlike its efforts ahead of the Gulf War, the United States, for now,
has no plans to ask the United Nations for any specific authorization
and will probably focus on NATO first, U.N. diplomats said.
And few expect them to in the near future. `No one around the
corridors is saying yet they must not do anything without U.N.
endorsement,'' a senior Security Council source said, speaking on
condition of anonymity.
While the United States has said it is exploring a range of options
in response to the attack, people have begun fleeing Afghanistan
ahead of an expected strike.
Secretary of State Colin Powell has not disclosed precisely what he
would like Pakistan to do. But the list of requirements was expected
to include access to intelligence, cutting off the Taliban's oil
supply and freezing its assets. He may also ask that U.S. ground
troops and air force be allowed to use Pakistan as a launching pad
for any attack on bin Laden and his followers.
In Britain, Prime Minister Tony Blair has called for a global
campaign to find the perpetrators `and destroy their machinery of
terror'' after the coordinated strikes that have left more than 5,000
people missing or dead.
But his government has appealed to Washington to deliberate before
any retaliatory attack, with a spokesman saying NATO support did not
necessarily `mean a blank check.''
For the first time in its 52-year history, NATO invoked the key
Article V of its founding treaty last Wednesday, declaring the
strikes were an attack on all NATO members and could prompt a
military response. But despite NATO's unprecedented move, the allies
made clear they would need another request from the United States for
assistance before making any military moves.
In Dublin, Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern said that U.S. action
after the attacks on New York and Washington was a right under United
Nations law, but he hoped the response would be carefully
deliberated.
`Self-defense is a right under the United Nations Charter, so they
have the right under international United Nations law,'' Ahern told
RTE Irish television on Sunday.
But he said many people were concerned `that a whole lot of countries
are not drawn into this.''
In contrast, former President George Bush, father of George W. Bush,
in late 1990 obtained Security Council authorization for driving
Iraqi troops out of Kuwait, with then-Secretary of State James Baker
flying around the world to lobby 13 of the 15 council members.
Currently, political analysts say, the wording of any resolution
would be difficult as the United States itself is not certain yet of
what action to take and where to take it.
`They will go to NATO first and then maybe think about the United
Nations,'' the Security Council diplomat said.
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